The present invention relates to an image processing method and apparatus. One of the most common reasons for an acquired digital photograph to be discarded or spoiled is because one or more of the facial regions in the photograph suffer from photographic defects other than red-eye defects, even though red eye defects can be common in cameras not operating with the advantages of the techniques described, e.g., at U.S. Pat. No. 6,407,777, and at US published applications nos. 2005/0140801, 2005/0041121, 2006/0093212, and 2006/0204054, which are assigned to the same assignee and hereby incorporated by reference. Common examples occur when people move or shake their head; when someone closes their eyes or blinks or someone yawns. Where there are several faces in a photograph, it is sufficient for one face to be “defective” for the whole shot to be spoiled. Although digital cameras allow users to quickly shoot several pictures of the same scene, typically, such cameras do not provide warnings of facial errors, nor provide a way to correct for such errors without repeating the composition stages (i.e. getting everyone together again in a group) of taking the photograph and re-shooting the scene. This type of problem is particularly difficult with children who are often photographed in unusual spontaneous poses which cannot be duplicated. When such a shot is spoiled because the child moved their head at the moment of acquisition, it is very disappointing for the photographer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,301,440, which is incorporated by reference, discloses an image acquisition device wherein the instant of exposure is controlled by image content. When a trigger is activated, the image proposed by the user is analysed and imaging parameters are altered to obtain optimum image quality before the device proceeds to take the image. For example, the device could postpone acquisition of the image until every person in the image is smiling.